


What We Learned from Nature

by NoLongerWriting



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 1980s, Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Magic, Bickering, Dark Magic, Dysfunctional Family, England (Country), Fairy Tale Curses, Family, Family Drama, Family Road Trip Gone Wrong, Forests, FrUK Week 2016, FrUk Week, France is a frog, Horror, M/M, Magic-Users, Monsters, Nature, Road Trips, Spells & Enchantments, Spook Me Multi-Fandom Halloween Ficathon, The Enchanted Forest, True Love's Kiss, Werewolves, Werewolves Turn Into Actual Wolves, Witch Curses, Wizards, no one is dead, the great outdoors, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-07-26 07:56:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7566235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoLongerWriting/pseuds/NoLongerWriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In all of England, there is one forest renowned for the abnormal, a place inspiring fear and wonder; the Wistman's Wood.  The land is verdant, and ripe with legends from ages past. Steeped in lore and marsh for all the world to see, magic pours from it like water from a pitcher. However, this deep forest is only a tourist attraction now, a National Park for families on holiday to visit. </p><p>But still, those who wander the woods may be lucky enough to learn its secrets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Into the Woods

Chapter one

✧~~~~✨~~✦~~✨~~~~✧ 

It was a dreadfully cold and foggy spring day in the English Countryside. Arthur, a small twig of a teen, sat in the backseat of his brother's car as his older siblings Allister and Dylan argued over the map. On either side of him sat his two younger brothers, the twins Colm and Henry. Family road trips, if you could even call them that, were supposed to be about bonding, brotherhood, not wanting to commit murder. At least, that's what their mum said to her boys that morning. However, it only served to give the two gingers up front a chance to bicker, and the poor blondes in the back a perfect view for the entire performance.

"Just pull over for peat sake Allister!" Dylan flipped the map over, once again trying to see if it made sense from another angle. "It's impossible to read while you're swerving around!"

"Well," Allister shot daggers at his slightly younger sibling, "if someone could actually read a map;" he grabbed the map out of Dylan's hands, the car swerving to the right violently on the dirt road, "We wouldn't be in this mess!" 

"Careful! You'll rip it!" Dylan lunged for Allister, trying with all his might to nab the map back. Not the best thing to do to a person who’s driving, Arthur thought.

Arguments like these were common in the Kirkland household, what with one tired mother, one deadbeat father, and five boys at varying stages of dumbassery. Turning the next page of "The Hobbit," Arthur tried to ignore the loud, distracting, vexing habit of his imperfect family for a world of magic and heroic adventures.

"It's not my fault I can't pay attention! And why are we even going to this forest Allister?" Dylan shouted to his brother, challenging him. Taking a hand off the steering wheel Allister smacked his forehead. He continued to drive on.

"I already told you, bugger. It's where mom and dad met." The car skidded on the dirt road, fog making the train slippery. Giggles came from the back seat at each near life threatening jerk of the car. 

"Wow, how old is this place then?" Colm began to roll down his window, and leaning out of the moving Land Rover. "Sure feels looks cool."

"C-Colm!" Cried Henry, "B-Be careful!" 

"Henry, get your arse back in the car." Dylan said from the passenger side seat.

"You guys can't tell me what I do, you're not mom!" As he said this a frog hopped from one of the trees, and straight into the car. The chances where astronomically thin, but the slight green animal managed to make the opening. 

"What the Hell!" Henry screamed as the amphibian started hopping all over the car. Grabbing his book Arthur brought it up above the intrusive creature, ready to bring it down, all three hundred thirty pages of seventh grade reading level terror. The look in the creature's eyes though begged him not to however, ‘please,’ it seemed to beg. ‘Please I mean you no harm.’ Given the choice, Arthur weighed his options: get rid of it and please his brothers, or let the creature annoy his brothers for him.

The answer was obvious.

"Just throw the damn thing out of the car!" Allister cried from the front seat, speeding up. 

"I haven't even seen a pond around for at least five miles," said Dylan who had halfway managed to get the map back from Allister. 

Grabbing the frog in his left hand and reaching across Colm to roll the window down with his right, the younger screamed. "Eww,” the child shrieked. “G-Get it away from me! I'll g-get warts." The small animal seemed to be upset about that comment. It looked at the boy with a face screaming 'how dare you, I’m fabulous.' For Arthur, this was reason enough to keep the slimy, sticky amphibian.

"Fine then, how about you hold him then? I don't want warts." Tossing the frog at his brother, Arthur almost felt bad for the poor, abused animal as it began to hop around free in the car once more. It glared daggers at him, but took its chance to get payback from Colm. 

"Can you all quiet down; it's hard enough to see as it is with all this fog! At least let me hear!" The car bounded forward for a few more seconds on the slick dirt road before the Rover bounced off the ground. A sudden thud came from the hood of the car, followed by some animal scampering off into the woods with a pained shriek. 

"Shit." Allister cursed as he finally stopped the car, skidding to a stop on the dirt road. "Wait in here; I've got to go check the hood." Walking out to the front, Arthur could barely see his brother's form in the headlights.

Dylan pensively looking to the back seat accounted for his siblings. "Are you three alright?" 

"Yep." Henry was still leaning out the window, looking for Allister’s figure in the fog.

"Totally." Arthur reached for the frog, plucking it off of Colm's face as he calmly held it in his hands.

"W-Warts!" By this time Arthur had managed to calm his siblings marginally; one curious about the animal, the other trying to clean himself with baby wipes.

Suddenly, the frog began to struggle again, hyperventilating as it tried for the window. “It’s okay buddy.” Arthur said. The frog was unconvinced.

"Good, Mum would tan my hide if either of you got hurt.” Scratching his nose Dylan peered out over the windshield. “Hey, Allister, did we hit anything? You've been out there a while." When a response did not come back, Dylan rolled down his own window. "Allister, this isn't funny. What will Mum say when she sees a dent in the new car?"

"Is he alright?" It was tough to spook Henry, but this forest, however “cool” was becoming more of a problem. 

"I'm sure he is." Poking his head through the window, he called again. "Allister, this isn't funny we've already wasted enough time as it is." 

Still, there was no reply. The frog began squirming in earnest, and all Arthur could do was try and keep it under control. Looking up at Dylan, Arthur finally lost his patience. "Go get him then." 

"Fine;" opening up his door with a bit more force than needed, Dylan stepped into the fog. "Allister! Get your arse back in here." The fog was dense, and steps could be heard in the distance. "Allister, did you try to find the animal? It ran off alright." The steps broke into a run, specifically one of four padded feet. A howl filled the air, an unearthly noise, the call to a hunt. Dylan's eyes grew wide as he ran to the driver's seat and hastily turned the ignition key. 

"Roll up the windows!" Complying, the brothers unbuckled and reached for the rotating lever on each door. The car stalled twice, and then started up. Something was getting closer to the car, its labored breathing too close for comfort. 

Whatever was out there, it wasn't Allister. 

The car screeched as it sped down the dirt road, debris flying in the taillights. Two grey orbs shone through the fog, and they were only getting closer. 

"What the hell is that thing?" Dylan cried from the driver seat, barely turning the wheel in time to avoid hitting a tree in the dense forest.

"What about Allister?" Henry cried. 

"What about us?" Dylan screamed. 

Looking into the eyes of the creature chasing them, Arthur could swear he saw a bit of apathy, as if the creature really didn't care if it caught up or not. It began to slow. It only took a few short seconds for the grey eyes to fade into the fog.

"W-We're outrunning it!" Colm threw his hands up as the creature's eyes grew dim in the rear view mirror. 

If only they had seen the second. 

Two paws with claws out pounced upon the Land Rover, the car's aluminum siding crunching under the sheer weight of the dark animal. The car stopped with a skid, slamming into a tree as it was pushed back. Windows smashed. 

“Oh my God.” Arthur looked to the front seat where Dylan was bleeding badly from a head wound, the airbags had not opened in time. His brothers crying on either side of him, the frog in his arms shivering as if it knew something they did not from the beginning. The second animal began pawing at the car, like a cat and ball of string. Batting the car with one harsh swat, it began to roll off the road and into a ravine. The sickly crashing of metal upon rock, boulder, and flesh assaulted Arthur as he held tight to the frog which cowered to his chest. The animal continued to toy with the car, batting it around with jovial glee. Goods were flung out of the open boot area, and covered Arthur: duffle bags, coolers, tents, you name it. 

The car stopped rolling abruptly, the second creature no longer playing with the Kirkland family car. Arthur was bleeding, from where he did not know, and was covered with supplies from the backseat. His breath was quiet, his motions as still as his siblings beside him. A clawed paw reached into the car, and plucked Dylan out of the front seat, dragging him through the glassy windshield, Colm and Henry’s extractions were much more merciful. 

'Oh god, I'm next.' He thought; the animal's clawed grasp reached in again. ‘I’m not here. I’m not here. I’m not here’ he thought. The paw, inches from his face, changed direction, grabbing a duffle bag instead. A howl filled the air as he tried to stifle his breathing, and listened as the animals stalked off into the night. The shock was too much, he had survived. Arthur slipped away from consciousness. 

The frog slipped unharmed from his hands, and looked up upon the foolish human. Such a fuss over someone so lacking in magic; well, he was human. However, the twig like boy did save his life from the two smaller, chubby humans. Francis might as well return the favor.


	2. Conquest And Defeat

Chapter two

Braziers lit the way as two siblings quietly ascended the ramp to their king's throne. The tattered remains of royal reds, golden yellows and the scent of saffron overpowered the area- luxuries that had been gifts to the forest from human kings long past. A time not many remembered, or even were around to speak of. Offerings to gods for a good harvest, a criminal sent to the woods to be feasted upon, and trinkets of friendship. Trees gnarled together, their trunks forming a great hall of twisting root, bark and moss. Branches reached towards the heavens, their arms making a glorious ceiling of leaves and sky where they met. At the grand center of the hall sat a man with tan skin, and an impressive silver great ax. The siblings stopped at the foot of the throne, and knelt before their ruler. 

Silver was a rare metal in the forest, one to be feared by wolves. 

Once, he was a kind and whimsical man who enjoyed mortal's presence. They had offered gifts and respected his world of nature, heralded him as a god of destruction and rebirth. Time went on however, the old religions were forgotten, the all too real treaties and pacts ancient kings had strive to build were seen as fairy tales. Humans would enter the realm without seeking his consent, they would leave garbage, refuse, and harm his subjects. They would chop down the trees and his people would disappear. 

And now, one of his most beloved companions was injured and missing because of these careless humans. The King scowled gravely, if his companion perished these humans would answer for their crimes. With green eyes upon his most trusted servants, he awaited their report. 

"Laura, Lukas, you failed at protecting my companion; I trust you have subdued the infiltrators." He sat upon his resplendent throne, velvet cushions lining the tree's inlaid bark. It was as much a part of the forest as any of the room's occupants. 

The siblings awkwardly shifted from side to side, the older sister, Laura answered for the both of them. "Sire, Lukas and I searched high and low for your consort, but Lovino managed to find his way to the han roads. A group of humans hit him with one of their strange horseless carriages. He managed to run off into the woods before they could see him." The blonde haired woman stopped, looking to her brother who was cradling his head. "We were unable to catch up with him. He most likely ran off to meet the Old One, and we cannot enter his land within the forest..." The Kings glare grower in intensity.

"Well, was there something you did manage to accomplish?" His clawed hands tapped impatiently on the wood, the beat reverberating throughout the room. 

Shrinking back, Laura looked to her brother to share his half of the excursion. Bringing a hand from his head he stepped forward. "Sire, we did manage to capture the three inhabitants of the horseless carriage. They would not of been able to venture so deep into the forest and off the human's path without magical aid." He stopped for a second. "We suspect foul play." 

Leaning back, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, the king took in the new information. With a swish of his wrist a long strip of bark peeled off the tree, glowing runes appearing as he spoke. "We shall search the forest for Lovino, and the traitor who lead the humans into our realm. Should Lovino fall the humans and traitor shall be punished for their crimes against my kingdom." The bark faded as the proclamation was finished, stepping forward the twins picked up the slab of bark, and returned to their kneeling position. 

"Should you find that the Old One is collaborating with the humans, you shall return to the hold. His wards would defeat you if they fought together." The siblings nodded in affirmation. "You are dismissed then." 

Turning on a heal the two quickly walked back towards the door, they would not be able to set out until dusk. The king pondered over why they had been so quiet. Where they hiding something? Protecting someone? Once there had always been a perturbed smiled on his consort's face, which in recent years became a look of mourning. The Frost King's departure, and the subsequent loss of Lovino's brother had changed his love. The two were two halves of a whole. 

"Lovino, come back safe mi amor." To leave the forest was something the Fey Folk did not do. Many vanished after taking a step out, others simply never existed. To be wiped from the records, memories of those who loved you. A life never lived: there was no worse punishment than that. Royal homes were vanishing. Frost, Earth, and his own: Fire. He could not wait like Earth, sedimentary and complacent. He could not heed the flow of time like Frost and fade from ancestral lands. The royal houses must stand together and repel the human progress. 

It was the only way to insure survival.


	3. Try to be Friendly When You Meet New People

Chapter Three

The first thing Arthur noticed was the heat of the sun upon his face, the second thing was that he was upside down and surrounded by refuse from the overturned Land Rover. Shards of glass from the windshield spread out like water droplets along the road, duffle bags, and the souring contents of the cooler were strewn around the area. How had he gotten out of the wreck? There was no memory of crawling out, nor that of a dog dropping him on the side of the road. 

Dog. A big one with one grey glowing eye perusing the car from a distance.

Dogs. A smaller one with green eyes, who laid in waiting for their small vehicle to turn the bend. Its paws batting them like a ball of yarn. 

Oh Lord. Dylan, Alister, Colm, Henry, where were they? Where they alright? Was Dylan's wound treated?

Breath came quick to Arthur, the panic of last night setting in once more. The entire situation didn't make any sense. None of it. Out of the corner of his eye his book was torn and pages ravaged by the crash. The voices and characters within 'The Hobbit' were not real, monsters were not real, and most certainly things like giant dogs with glowing eyes who could topple a car and snatch brothers were definitely not real. 

They couldn't be.

Hop, hop, hop.

However, things that were not real usually didn't leave physical evidence. How did he wind up like this? 

Hop, hop, hop. 

Was he himself hurt in the crash? Had his brothers' argument caused the car accident and thus a brain injury? Feeling his head, sandy curls being pushed aside in pursuit of a bump, he came up with nothing. Would he really know if he were hurt if he was hallucinating? 

Hop, hop, hop. 

Was he dead? Was this all in his imagination? The sky above looked so real, the air smelled of earth and the croaking of frogs assaulted his ears. 

"Stop moping you buffoon!" 

Sitting up quickly, Arthur scanned the area for the source of the nasally, deep voice.

"Where are you?" It had meant to sound brave, but the question was laced with the timid tone Colm had mastered at a young age. Whoever this man was, he must of seen him cry.

"Down here." It came quickly, some sounds meshed together as the sentence came out. Looking to his left, there was no one there.

"I could have sworn he was over there." In the space in front of him perched only a small frog. Its bulbous throat expanding and contracting with each breath. Ribbit, it croaked. "How silly of me, it is only the frog from before. You gave me a fright little guy."

If the frog had eyebrows, it would have furrowed them at that point. Opening its toothless mouth the creature did something only thought to occur on children's public television. 

It spoke. 

"Is it really so hard for you humans to understand us animals. Really, without me you would probably be locked up in the king's dungeon right now." It righted itself upon the dirt ground, standing about a foot tall on its hind legs.

To be fair, it is not every day where you are in a car crash, your family is stolen, and you meet a talking frog; fortunately, not everyone is a Kirkland. Drawing himself back the blond boy looked faint. "Yes, I have gone bonkers haven't I? The safest thing to do in a situation such as this is to stay by the vehicle and-" His train of thought was cut off by the rude impact of amphibian tongue upon his forehead.

"Well, I guess that got your attention!" The words came out garbled, tongue still on the boy's head. Stopping for a moment, the frog retracted its appendage from the traumatized teen. "We should begin, I am Francis and I'm-" 

It was the amphibian's turn to be silenced. "You are a frog. Frog's do not talk." Francis could not wait for this human to understand, hopping to Arthur's shoulder he spoke in the human's ear in a gentle voice.

"MY NAME IS FRAN-CIS, FRANCIS, YOU WASTE OF TIME." He narrowly managed to avoid a swatting hand from Arthur. Hopping back to the dirt road Francis continued. "We need to keep moving, the enchantment placed on the Siblings Grimm will not hold on much longer." 

"Alright, Frog-cis, tell me how I can know if you are real." 

"Hold your hand out, I'll read your fortune." The frog crossed his forelegs, or arms as Arthur thought of them. Placing itself in a sassy position the frog indicated that he did not have all day.

"This is idiotic, but here." Thrusting his hand out the human waited for the frog to rest on his arm.

Tracing the lines of the human's hand, Francis began. "This line means you'll live a long and happy life. This gash means you fell off your bike last week. This spit means you are as retarded as I originally thought and I should not of bothered helping you." 

"Well, that's awful long and-" the frog spat into his hand, a large goop of slobber coating Arthur's palm. "Disgusting!" 

"Well, let us see who has warts now!" Cackling evilly the frog settled down. "Retarded people should not have to take on foreign places alone, and for that reason I shall be your guide." 

Arthur could not help but feel a little alleviated by the frog's actions, not that he would ever admit it to the prat. "Alright, Frog-cis, where is it I can get help for the serious brain injury I must have sustained to be able to hold a conversation with you?" 

"However rude you may be, it is not in anyone's best interest for you to be caught now. Follow me and we will seek out the Old One in his river." The frog began to hop off the dirt road, away from the car, and into the woods. 

"You know, it would be easier on you if I did this." Picking the frog up and placing the amphibian on his sandy head, Arthur moved forward. "Just tell me where to go." Arthur took a sharp left down the forest trail only to be stopped by a sharp yank to his hair. "Ow!"

"That way." Francis showed little remorse, and only subtle enjoyment for the action. Into the woods they went, and into the woods, towards the caves they would go.


	4. Persevere in the Face of Adversity

The babbling brook spoke in bubbles and the cries of hunting birds. "We are almost there, the Old One hardly turns away visitors." Francis looked out to the river, cranes and herein dotting the banks. Shrinking back into Arthur's shirt, he continued, "Try not to let them eat me. Not only will this world lose one so beautiful as I, but you will lose your guide." The frog gulped, bulbous throat bouncing as the birds eyed the green fleshy creature. 

"Sure thing, Frog." Arthur reached into the underbrush for a stick of grand size, it could work as a walking stick if he got rid of the branches. Hitting it against the underbrush the pair watched as the disturbed birds flew off into all directions. "By the way, how did I get out of the rover?" 

"Arthur, believe me when I say this: the less you know the better right now. You will need to get help then leave the forest." The frog was then wrenched out of the coat pocket. "After all, you think you're crazy already. All I want is to get you safely out of here." There was a sadness to his voice; the steady reverberation of a heartbeat, blood filling within the veins, spilling out on a dashboard. Arthur shook his head again. 

"Hey, be careful! You'll give me whiplash!" Hair was pulled on Arthur's right, unnatural blue eyes looking into his. "Please be careful when you have something as precious as I for cargo." 

"Please be careful, try to forget, keep moving... Are you telling me to leave my family behind? Toad I wouldn't desert them, even if they're arses when they want to be." This frog, it only cared about itself, and for some reason Arthur. If it could speak from he beginning why hadn't it warned him and his brothers better of the impending dangers lurking in this god forsaken forest?

"I'm telling you not to go and get yourself killed by ravenous worgs. Now put me back inside before a bird sees me, you scared off all their other prey with your bumbling!" The coat was spacious, Francis would give that to Arthur. How could someone, who obviously had magic, fail to feed themselves on a regular basis. The man never even complained about hunger and it had been nearly a day since they entered the woods. 

"Hey, I'll-" he was cut off by Francis' tongue again, slapping him on the forehead as the frog held a paw to his lips.

"Look, it is there!" Francis hoped off of Arthur, pushing aside long grass and stepping over wild flowers the bumbling human followed. A waterfall fed the stream, and within that waterfall was a thinly veiled cave containing the brightest light the boy had ever seen twinkling in the distance.

"It is gorgeous. Like a picture you'd see in travel books." Arthur began to wade through the water, pushing logs and sedge from his path. 

"We must approach with caution, waterfalls can be deadly if debris fall on you!" Francis was nearly swimming from his perch on Arthur's shoulder, unsure of how to aid his rebellious charge. "Arthur, we should try to find a safer way to cross." 

"Nah, I'm nearly there anyhow." Teenagers and their immortality complexes. Why did fate deal poor Francis such a black sheep and poor hand? 

Arthur's feet could not touch the bottom, nor could he see past his chest in the murky depths churned by the waterfall above. Something brushed past Arthur's pant leg, silky and long with tangles along the ends; 'Must simply be pond weeds,' he thought. Finding purchase on the rock face he was able to climb up, even with his tag-along's insufferable yapping. Pulling himself out of the water, and over the edge of the rock wall he was flung into a cavern, hollowed out by water from another time. 

The cave was empty, dank and dark in contrast to the outside. Taking a few random steps Arthur found the back of the cave to only be a few feet in front him. Of course it had been stupid to follow a frog, for all he knew there was already a search team at the rover looking for him. "Great, all that swimming for this wild goose chase."

"I do not understand!" Francis cried in alarm, hopping from Arthur's shoulder. "He is always here training his successors!" Arthur scrapped his boots along the stone floor, something was not right. It felt, odd. 

It felt like rivets.

"One second!" Getting down on his hands and knees Arthur felt out an image carved into the rock, stagnant water filling the indentation upon the otherwise unmarried surface. Reaching his fingers through the muck he found the blockage, a pile of twigs, grass, and something else. Pulling it out was grueling, but as quickly as the water was free to flow it began to glow anew. The light was the same as he saw outside, illuminating the rune in blue water and the surrounding circle depicted four rulers: an ax, fan, a sword, and trident. 

"Hah, look at that! It is amazing." The blue glow illuminated the room, as blinding as the sun itself. 

Francis watched the boy frolic around the room, what was the 'Wise One's' motive with this? One as old as he rarely acted without reason, and to update wards like these requires skill, talent, and power. The waterfall outside seemed to roar louder.

Requirements the Wise One only had two of.

"Arthur, look out!" Francis leaped from the corner of the cave to the boy, stalactites above rumbling with the waterfall outside. 

"Ow, what is it?" Arthur looked to the frog who was actively trying to reach the open mouth of the cave. 'Did it always drizzle like that?' 

No, it did not. The water surged forth, nocking Francis from the rock face to the back of the cave where he crumpled against the stone hard structure. 

"Francis!" Rushing over to the small creature Arthur picked his companion up and placed him gingerly in his pocket. "Are you alright, how many fingers am I holding?" 

The frog did little more than shake his head, "You must leave." The words came weak, forced. 

"I will not leave you here, I've already lost enough!" How could he think such a thing, the last living person out there who cared. He could not leave him here and escape the now enveloping water. 

What a foolish mortal, Francis was prepared to die for his promise, but this boy did not know that. "Then you must do this, repeat after me:vand til tåge , ændre din formular!" 

"What the heck was that, I can not even pronounce some of those!" The water rose to his ankles, gathering around the pair, light still coming from below the surface of the depths. 

"Please Arthur, if you can't, just go!" He would keep his promise, even if only he remembered it. He could protect this child, for he could not protect the rest. 

"No!" The water was not at waist level; water rapidly pouring into the mouth of the cave, swallowing air and light in its murky churning mixture of sedge, silt, and muck. Francis tried to push the human away, but the mortal arms held him tight. What could Francis do? He was as powerless as Arthur and him were in the crash, but then it dawned upon Francis that Arthur wasn't powerless in either of these cases.

"Then just will it!" He snapped forward, then doubled back as the pain retuned to his skin, rocks cut into his rubbery flesh. 

"What?" The boy was now trending water, the stalactites on the roof of the cave threatening Arthur as he got closer to their spear like tips.

"Arthur," the frog smiled, "just make it mist! Change its state and thus your future!" 

So he wasn't the only mental one, the frog was too. Deciding to humor the creature in his last moments, Arthur began to think as much as possible. 'I want the water to not drown me, I want the water's levels to recede from whence they came, I want to evade these stalactites, I want to escape this fate. I want the water to turn to mist. I want this water to not threaten me or my friend.' 

The thoughts ran together, a string of all the things that could save him as the water continued to rise. It felt hot, he felt hot, like it was boiling in the room. 

The water was hot, the water was boiling.

"Get us out of here, Arthur!" Grabbing onto a stalactite close enough to the surface. The ancient collection of sediment and calcium was oily from time, yet Arthur held firm. Water licked at the soles of his shoes, the room was unbearable. Francis clung to him, nestled in the crook of his damp jacket.

'I don't want to die.' With that thought the The blue light came again from the tunes far below the surface, and the steam began to subside from the cave. It was like a plug and been pulled, the water ebbing away down some unforeseen drainage pipe. 

"It is working!" Francis cried out in both joy and alarm, "You're doing it you significant annoyance!" 

"The hell was that Frog? You have some explaining to do-" the stalactite cracked, falling from the ceiling to the floor of the cave due to the cumbersome weight of its two cling-ons. Remnant steam cleared as they made impact with the muddy bottom. 

"I don't care, we lived!" Francis pulled on Arthur's hair, knocking their heads together. "You've got the gift, you are the one!" Neither noticing the approaching foot steps on the cave floor.

"Ahh, you have completed my puzzle. By endurance and observance you can solve nearly any problem which lies before you." A figure stepped in front of them, accompanied by a small woman who easily plucked the rock from Arthur and set it to the ground beside them. "I am Yao, and no, I am not as old as everyone says I am." He looked from them to the woman once more, "I was expecting you, but had to be sure. No one can trust anything now of days."

The man dressed in simple robe of deep blue and green, his silky black hair was secured in a knot. He looked only to be around fifty, small lines on the corners of his eyes, and lines from many years of smiling on his cheeks. "You may enter, come inside. My son Kiku shall escort you, and my daughter Mei shall ready your guest." There was a rumbling in the back of the cave, from which a gateway was formed. A man with a short bobed haircut and highs cheek bones looked apathetically at Arthur and the frog before motioning for them to follow.

This was all too much at once, what was wrong this forest?

**Author's Note:**

> Four elements, three houses. Vanishing history, a prince in disguise.


End file.
